Preparing Your Business Tech to Start the New Year

The start of a new
year is a challenging time for businesses. It can be a good time to reflect on
the wins and losses of the previous twelve months. It’s also an excellent time
to take stock and evaluate what your business needs to go forward.

IT demands move at
a staggering speed, meaning last year’s tech may not fit next year’s needs.

The new year can
bring major change to both the business and the environment it operates in.
Regulations, contract terms, and seasonal spending habits mean that adaptations
have to be made for continued growth.

A smart business
knows how and where to incorporate flexibility to win more business and adapt
to a new environment. As we move into the new year, there are fundamental
questions we should ask about our IT to ensure we are ready to tackle the next
twelve months too.

Is Your Hardware Still Up to The Task?

Businesses are
often challenged by their client’s demand for files that seem to continually
increase in size and resolution. The storage needed to handle, use, and
archive these enormous files appears to grow at a near exponential rate.

Every device today
is capable of capturing more data at a higher resolution than ever before.
Huge data needs have become the new standard.

The expectation of
bigger and bigger data is only set to continue as we progress into another new
year. Many clients expect, or demand, exceptional quality from professional
services and with a fast turnaround time too.

These competing
demands put as much strain on network hardware and computing power as they do
physical storage. One of the most important things a business can do when
reviewing IT demands is to ensure there are no bottlenecks in the productivity
pipeline.

Is Your Backup Reliable and Ready?

Almost every
business in the modern day has learned enough to put a backup in place.
Whether simply transferring files manually to USB storage, copying documents
over to a local server, or saving media to the cloud. However, not every
business is testing their backups. Fewer still are testing them reliably.

A backup is only
as good as what we know can be reliably restored from it. Cases have emerged
where big-name firms had famously believed they were backing up successfully
for months or years, only to find out their backup was failing when they really
needed it.

Whether impacted
by missing assets, unable to transfer files, or affected by corrupt data, an
untested backup may be as useful as not having any backup at all. A critical
goal for the safety and reliability of any business should be to have
dependable backups that are tested at regular intervals.

Is Your Compliance Still Up to Date?

Nearly every
business in the world has compliance and regulations standards it must adhere
to if it is to keep its position in the marketplace. These may be industry
specific such as medical or automotive certifications, or regional protections
such as data protection regulations.

Requirements for
each of these areas change regularly. It is up to each firm to keep on top of
both changes to rules and changes to the firm which may impact them.

Changing IT can
often impact certifications in a big way. Many feature rules which affect
storage, processing, or altering the way in which data is used; it’s essential
to check your usage against strict requirements relevant to your business.

While
time-consuming and difficult, these checks require a strong knowledge of both
the rules and your IT system. The penalties for failure can be severe and
crippling. It is a critical area of the firm you can’t afford to get wrong.

If you are looking
to boost your business in the new year, check up on your systems and
technology, or dust up your certifications to the latest standard: there’s
never a better time than now.

Give us a call at 570-779-4018 to get your new year off to a flying start.